The Bare Necessities

This song was written for the 1964, but not used until the 1967 Disney film The Jungle Book. The song has been recorded by Harry Connick, Jr., Julie Andrews, Lou Rawls and Louis Armstrong.

Lyrics

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature’s recipes
That bring the bare necessities of life

Wherever I wander, wherever I roam
I couldn’t be fonder of my big home
The bees are buzzin’ in the tree
To make some honey just for me
When you look under the rocks and plants
And take a glance at the fancy ants
Then maybe try a few

The bare necessities of life will come to you
They’ll come to you!

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That’s why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life

Now when you pick a paw-paw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware
Don’t pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don’t need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big paw-paw
Have I given you a clue ?

The bare necessities of life will come to you
They’ll come to you!

Oh, man, this is really …
So just try and relax, yeah cool it
Fall apart in my backyard
‘Cause let me tell you something little britches
If you act like that bee acts, uh uh
You’re working too hard

And don’t spend your time lookin’ around
For something you want that can’t be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin’ about it
I’ll tell you something true

The bare necessities of life will come to you
Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
(yeah, man!)
I mean the bare necessities
That’s why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life
(yeah!)
With just the bare necessities of life
(yeah, man!)